Commissioners Melvin Waldrop, Paul Oliver Jr., Clifton Johnson, Juanita Jordan, Christine Veliz and Wayne Richardson all voted to approve the plant which critics fear will cause enormous pollution in the East Ward where the plant will be built.

Commissioner Jermaine James was the lone dissenter on the board. Councilman Augusto Amador abstained because of ties to PSE&G.

Immediately following the vote, Newarker Kim Gaddy of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance vowed to file a class-action lawsuit.

"AS early as next week we'll be getting our paperwork together," Gaddy said following the meeting. "Unfortunately this lawsuit has to be the consequence becasue our health wasn't consequence enough."

Engineers for Hess have said the plant would not cause the pollution feared by many.

"They have to meet state-of-the-art emissions controls," said Fred Sellars, lead environmental consultant for the project at a recent meeting. "The project will not cause a violation of air quality standards."

Hess wants to build the plant, topped by 250-foot stacks, near Newark Bay and the mouth of the Passaic River, next to a police firing range and existing fuel storage tanks owned by the company.

The next step for the plant will be to get approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

CITY BACKS DECISION

Following the planning board ruling, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Adam Zipkin said the plant , “ will utilize the best available technologies and be one of the cleanest fossil fuel power plants ever constructed."

He said the city scrutinized the environmental impact of the plant.

"Based on the results of that analysis, we believe that the project is likely to result in a net improvement to air quality by allowing the more polluting generators in our area – the coal and peaker plants – to run less often."